3 Simple Steps to Reignite Your Creative Fire
- Issue: Summer 2022
- Lifestyle, Personal development
- Written by: Julie Brown Neu
As entrepreneurs, creativity is an essential skill. On any given day, we may be creating content, designing programs, coming up with innovative ways to help our clients solve their problems, and so much more. But, perhaps you think you’re not creative. Not true! There’s a pervasive myth in our society that creativity is a special gift only bestowed upon artists and other “creatives.” It;s time to bust that myth! Creativity is innate; every single one of us is born creative. You merely have to watch a group of kindergartners to test the theory. Every five year old paints with wild abandon, experiments readily, and creates without hesitation. They have the innocence of youth and have not yet lost their creative confidence.
The idea of creative confidence comes from the work of brothers Tom and David Kelley and is described in their book Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential within Us All. In it, they discuss this innate creativity and how it happens that we lose confidence over time and stop believing that we are creative. Sometimes someone in our lives tells us outright that we aren’t creative, but it’s more often not so obvious. Instead, our confidence just gradually erodes as we move into adulthood and become burdened by our cultural messaging and insecurities. The critical voices in our minds get louder and our authentic voices quiet to whispers.
Fortunately, all hope is not lost! You can regain your creative confidence and reignite your creative fire. How? By going back to the time when your creativity was unquestioned and playing like your five year old self. To get started:
- Set aside 15 minutes a day for one week. You may enjoy yourself and end up spending more than 15 minutes, but a mere quarter of an hour is all that you really need.
- Start with something low pressure. Getting out a blank page and commanding yourself to “Create!” will cause even your inner five year old to huddle quivering in a corner. Lower the stakes. Print off a coloring page and pull out some crayons. Doodle. Cut a paper snowflake. Make a mark, move your hands, just do something.
- Begin to experiment, explore, and play. When you’re bored of coloring, go ahead and pull out that blank page and smack some paint on it. Let your perfectionist persona take a break for a bit and just do whatever comes to you. It will turn out better than you expect. (And if it doesn’t, throw the paper out. No one’s expecting a Monet.)
After just a week of play, your creativity muscles will start to relax and it will become easier. You may notice those social media posts coming together a lot quicker than before and it only gets better with time. Set aside 15 minutes a day and let your creativity burn bright!
Related Articles
